Pipeline's Been Pumping, Kipp Caddy Camps in a Swag to Surf Shippies, and Just How Many Waves Will You Get at the Melbourne Pool?

Ten Things from Surfing & the Internet on the Week That Was November 22, 2019

1. The Women's QS Has Been Run and Won, Pretty Much

Congratulations goes out to Aussie Isabella Nichols who officially claimed top honours in the 2019 WSL Qualifying Series this week after winning the last major QS of the year, the Port Stephens Toyota Pro.

There is one QS left for the ladies, the Mau and Sons Pichilemu Pro in Chile, but it's only a QS 1500 and so shoudn't come into play in deciding who is on the Championship Tour in 2020.

Macy Callaghan needed to make the final of the Port Stephens event to make sure she'd be on the CT in 2020 and did just that, meeting Nichols in the final. She joins Bronte Macaulay (who finished runner up on the QS) and Keely Andrew as Ausse CTers using the QS to claim their spots in the 2020 big leagues.

High profile on-again off-again CTer Sage Erickson finished 3rd (which was all but a lock since she won one of the season's two 10,000 point events, the US Open, and had a strong showing in the other) while Amuro Tsuzuki of Japan will be the only other true rookie in 2020, claiming the last spot – so long as Brisa Hennessy double qualifies on the CT.

Unfortunately Aussie supergrom Zahli Kelly missed out on the CT by a single heat (I think) in this final QS, which would have made her the youngest to ever qualify for the CT (I think). She'll no doubt be back though, and with the revamped QS hitting us next year featuring two Australian majors, up from ZERO, things are looking bright for our next gen.

Here's a sweet clip of our QS Champ that Billabong put out earlier this year. Ripper!

2. Get to a Paddle Out to Fight For the Bight this Saturday

The world feels pretty cooked at the moment and that can be overwhelming, but I reckon a good antidote to that feeling is to get out and get amongst other people who give a shit. Seriously, it's a really beautiful, powerful, positive thing to do. And here's your perfect opportunity for that. Saturday November 23 is the Fight For the Bight National Day of Action, and there are paddle-outs happening absolutely everywhere, all over Australia's coast.

Here’s a lovely little film showing Kipp Caddy doing some pretty core-lord stuff for a young freesurfer – hiking nine kilometres into Shipsterns Bluff and camping in a swag in the bush a stone's throw from its teeth. There’s a fair bit of earnest slow-mo gear in this clip, but it works. And the drone footage of Caddy and swimming photographer Sam Venn jumping off the rocks as the camera pulls back to take in the magnitude of the landscape is as freaking awesome as it is unique. Super into it. And that’s before we get into the surfing of Caddy on the infamous and terrifying Tassie wave. It's the best clip you'll see this week. A big good onya to all involved – Caddy, Venn, and filmmaker Cameron Staunton. Young legends.

4. Your Weekly Wave Pool Update: More Prices For Melbourne

URBNSURF Melbourne continue their roll out of news and content before opening in January, this week dropping this sunny more user-accessible clip than the previous “Beast” wave stuff, as well as announcing more membership pricing stuctures.

They’d previously announced Foundation and Gold Memberships ($3500 and $3100, respectively, for four surf sessions a month), and now we have the “Aqua Membership” – which is $1400 a year, or $117 a month, and will get you 2 “intermediate” surf sessions a month.

They also dropped this bit of info that a lot of people have been asking for since the pool’s spate of content releases – wave count and crowd numbers:

“In intermediate surf sessions surfer numbers are capped at 18 per side, and each surfer will score around 10-12 waves per hour.”

Those of you who are extremely good at maths will be able to calculate that to a wave every five to six minutes per session.

In other pool news this week, it's been revealed that one of these types of pools is being planned for the California desert backed by Josh Kerr and CJ Hobgood. It's a wave pool world.

Oh, and here is a tweet:

Mind boggled how accessible URBNSURF have made pool surfing. For $117/month you get 25hours ($56/hour) surfing + boardriders + spectator privileges. Even cheaper for groms & only 3min from Tullamarine. Compare that with $50000/day 3.5hr from LAX!

We're up to the Quarter-Finals in the first major Hawaiian event of the season, and the second last major QS of the year, the Hawaiian Pro at Haleiwa, which should wrap up tomorrow before we head to Sunset next week.

Aussie fellas doing good things and still in the event that you should keep an eye on are Connor O'Leary (who with a good result here could nail his spot on the 2020 CT), Jack Freestone (who is above the cusp, at 18th on the CT, but could jump into a more secure double qualifying space with a good result here and at Sunset, he is at 18th on the QS also), an on-fire Ethan Ewing (who was not really in calculations to qualify this year at 41st, but, sheesh, stranger things have happened), Mitch Crews (who is currently 44th and could make a big jump into the conversation coming into Sunset), and Avoca duo Wade Carmichal & Ace Buchan (get a Triple Crown, kings!).

Also still going is Kelly Slater, who I have never heard of but am hearing a lot of good things about.

6. Yes! The Fun Boys!

The best collection of Aussie Freesurfers in the internet-freesurf star era, the Fun Boys take to the Aussie outback to do pro surfing. Creed McTaggart, Wade Goodall and Shaun Manners are an absolute joy to watch and their filmmaker Harry Triglone is a gem. Rad stuff here, top marks.

7. The Collab of Dreams: WSL and IKEA

Hungover on a Saturday, heat beating down on the bitumen carpark. You walk three feet behind your partner as they lead you reluctantly to that big blue building. This is where relationships go to be tested. Once entered, some never make it out. Today, you're not so sure you'll be able to pass it. But, wait, there is hope... because now there will be surf accessories? The WSL sent out an email this week announcing that they will be collaborating with the Swedish furniture giant "to create a line of products catered to you, the surfers and ocean enthusiasts of the world!". What will that mean, you think? Flatpack surfboard racks? Clever designed places to hang your wetsuit?

8. Billabong On Haleiwa

Billabong dropped an 11 minute clip on the wave that hosts the first stop of the Hawaiian Triple Crown, and it’s genuinely super interesting. Like a lot of Australian surfers, I’ve never been Hawaii and don’t know enough about an important wave in our history beyond tuning into the QS event every November. Stuff like this helps us all place it in cultural as well as geographical context. Love it.

9. Pipeline Has Been Pumping

Pipeline has been doing Pipeline things and when Pipeline does Pipeline things we get awesome all-action videos like this one from Red Bull. Five minutes of the most famous wave in the world being wrangled by the likes of Tamayo Perry, Kalani Chapman, Noa Deane, Flynn Novak, Derek Ho, Jamie O’Brien and more. Unrelated: Remember when Flynn Novak coined the Flynstone Flip?! Haha, that was the best.

10. Pipeline Has Been Pumping: The Ho Family Version

Mason Ho drops his regular clip that this week is basically a tribute to how rad his dad and uncle are, still charging like absolute legends after all these years. Mason goes alright as well.